[At first, Vanya tries to pull her hands away. She's too lost in herself, too terrified and desperate, to understand that he's steadying her. He's giving her a sense to focus on. He's grounding her.
As he starts to talk, though, she hears his voice over the distress that overtook her like a ringing siren. Of course she hears his voice. It's a relief, though it's changed; it's deeper, it's calmer, it's more assured. But it's so fully him, and though she didn't have the same hope to cling to for his return the way she did with Five, she just wants to hear him speak.
It is all she hears. Vanya remembers her therapist, the way she'd talked about grounding. She remembers Leonard teaching her how to focus to control herself. As he talks, as she takes in the sound of his voice, the wind picks up quickly around them again. Without the focus, she could explode like that night in the parking lot. But now, though the wind grows stronger and stronger, and the leaves of the trees and the tall grass are crashing like waves, the power doesn't overload. It drains first.
She breathes at his instruction. Each time she takes a breath in, the wind gusts to the west. She takes a breath out, and the wind veers and lashes toward the east.
But Ben stays, and he speaks. He holds her hands, tracing his fingers against them to keep her here. To keep Vanya present. Focus. Focus, Number Seven. She's here, she's here in this park, the grass wilder and more natural than their perfectly manicured courtyard, and Ben is alive, and he cares about her.
And the wind starts to howl distantly, as it slowly wanes. Her breaths are longer and deeper. She can't see through her tears, so she keeps her eyes shut. Her hands fall still, remaining stiff, but they don't shake violently.
The wind reaches its coda and sighs, thinning to nothing. Vanya keeps herself as still as possible.]
I love you.
[It's hoarse. It sounds inadequate, to finally say it. She'd insisted that she loved her family to Leonard at the end, when he'd tried to point her at them like a cannon.
It's not them she's saying it to, or at least not any of the family she'd assumed would hear when she wanted them to hear it. But it's important Ben knows now. She loves him, and she missed him, and she doesn't want him to disappear again like Five did.]
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As he starts to talk, though, she hears his voice over the distress that overtook her like a ringing siren. Of course she hears his voice. It's a relief, though it's changed; it's deeper, it's calmer, it's more assured. But it's so fully him, and though she didn't have the same hope to cling to for his return the way she did with Five, she just wants to hear him speak.
It is all she hears. Vanya remembers her therapist, the way she'd talked about grounding. She remembers Leonard teaching her how to focus to control herself. As he talks, as she takes in the sound of his voice, the wind picks up quickly around them again. Without the focus, she could explode like that night in the parking lot. But now, though the wind grows stronger and stronger, and the leaves of the trees and the tall grass are crashing like waves, the power doesn't overload. It drains first.
She breathes at his instruction. Each time she takes a breath in, the wind gusts to the west. She takes a breath out, and the wind veers and lashes toward the east.
But Ben stays, and he speaks. He holds her hands, tracing his fingers against them to keep her here. To keep Vanya present. Focus. Focus, Number Seven. She's here, she's here in this park, the grass wilder and more natural than their perfectly manicured courtyard, and Ben is alive, and he cares about her.
And the wind starts to howl distantly, as it slowly wanes. Her breaths are longer and deeper. She can't see through her tears, so she keeps her eyes shut. Her hands fall still, remaining stiff, but they don't shake violently.
The wind reaches its coda and sighs, thinning to nothing. Vanya keeps herself as still as possible.]
I love you.
[It's hoarse. It sounds inadequate, to finally say it. She'd insisted that she loved her family to Leonard at the end, when he'd tried to point her at them like a cannon.
It's not them she's saying it to, or at least not any of the family she'd assumed would hear when she wanted them to hear it. But it's important Ben knows now. She loves him, and she missed him, and she doesn't want him to disappear again like Five did.]
Please stay here. For... For now.